Trafficker
by Rxym
Summary: When Lucy discovers she's become a targert for a human-trafficking organization, she starts to fear for her life, but the people who care for her wont let them take her... Unless, they are decieving her?
1. Honey Method

***CHARECTERS MAYBE OOC, IF YOU DONT LIKE, DONT CONTINUE TO READ***

**chances are youll never see the rest of this story because i never actually finish writing anything i start because i have so much creativty but so little time and i procrastinate so much :((((**

**I mean either that will happen or ill write like five chapters and post them all at the same time bc maybe that'll encourage me to write and finish.**

**Writing has always been something i wanted to be good at and i practice as much as i can**

**I'm honestly writing as I go because I have a rough outline of where I want this to be, but ye. Hopefully I update weekly. Hold it against me**

**I don't exactly know who I want the main ship to be, however, obviously is will center around Lucy.**

**I will also be telling you guys at the begining of the chapter if there is any smut, suggestive scenes, or fluff and who its with, unless it contains a spoiler.**

**(EX. *Smut with Lucy and XXXX)**

**But Your options are Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Laxus. **

**My flavor of the month is personally Gray, but I digress, if I post this story I will let you guys decide**

**A certain someone will also appear as Lucy's boyfriend for a while but sadly he will not be endgame :( (Sorry to all those shippers out there who like this specific crack ship, I do too)**

**(college expirences may not be accurate as I feel i didn't need to be spot on since its not a major part of the story.)**

* * *

***Suggestive scene, no smut***

I try to wipe off the coffee I just spilled on myself. Frustration starts to build on my face and i start rubbing harder, as there is now a brown stain on my new white blouse. She grabs my hand and urges me to stop.

"Lucy it will only stain harder if you rub it." She says, her pale hands taking the napkin from me and throwing it in the trashcan closest to her.

"Lis, that doesn't even make any sense." I snort. She rolls her eyes.

"Yes it does! If you try to rub off stains with napkins or something it only rubs it into the material more!" She says matter-of-factly.

I scoff. "Yeah well, regardless I'll have to wash this like 18 billion times. This was brand new!" I pout. My face becomes flushed.

"I'll just buy you a new one!" she says with a honey covered tone. I smile softly. "But anyway, how was you day besides the new stain?"

"Don't remind me. Professor Lake is a pain in my ass! He gives out exams bi-weekly, and they are so hard! I barely have time to study any more with my bartending job at Fairy Tail too." I start to whine. Lisanna playfully rolls her sapphire blue eyes again for what seems like the millionth time.

"I feel you on that. My Professor gives them out monthly, but the tests are super hard, and, he has us write essays every month along with the tests! Studying to be a vet is hard." She lets out an exhasperated sigh.

Time goes by quickly as Lisanna and I continue to catch up on our lives. Soon, she has to up and leave as she made plans with her sister and their friends.

"Just try your best on your exam!" her voice fades as she walks away to catch up with her friends. I smile and try not to think about the psychology exam, but at least it's the third to last one until I become a senior in college.

I never really thought about it much, like, my purpose in life, but lately it has started to bother me. Life feels bland and I just want something to make it exciting, except I don't want to be one of those dumb bitches who starts drama just to make their lives cool. That's how much of my peers are, still living in high school even though we were mostly all juniors in college. Well, most of my peers except a select few.

Those select few are the ones I usually hang out with, the mature ones, and I always found them enough to be around. We would always laugh and smile together, do crazy things, and then do not so crazy things. Those were the people I confided in, always. Until recently.

Recently it has just been boring, and I'm not the only one to notice it. Lisanna also had felt something was off. A change was needed but neither of us really knew what exactly.

I start to make my way across campus as I've realized I've been doting off for a little just standing and thinking. My next mission was to go to my apartment and get ready for a greuling job. I make my way towards the parking garage to reach my car, but, as I reach my car I have a gut renching feeling something is off.

I start walking slowly towards my car, my heart thumping in my chest. _Why am I so anxious to arrive to my car?_ My mind is going a million miles per second. I finally get to my car, and my gut renching feeling worsens.

Studying psychology to become a social worker has really taught me something about the human brain and why people think maliciously, and saying I was scared of opened honey upside down on my cars roof out of context would make me sound like a fool, however.

In a recent string of events in Magnolia, the city I live in, sex-traffickers have been known to put things like water, honey, jam, milk, any fluid you can think of upside down in bottles on your car. It's a distraction method to keep you from getting into your car right away, so they have time to take you where ever they need you to be.

Noticing the honey right away, I don't think for a second about inspecting it as I get into my car, lock my doors, and pull out of the garge quickly.

I fairly don't care about spilled and smeared honey all over my car if it saves me from getting hurt. Though the sticky mess will be hard to clean off.

"When I asked for a change, I didn't mean a dangerous or bad one." I say to myself whilst turning on the radio.

As I reach my apartment, I actually drive past it. With the honey distraction, I want to make sure I'm not being followed. I also end up parking a street away from my apartment once I turn around to come back after driving for an extra five minutes.

My mom always tought me to be cautious. Call it paranoid, but I like to be better safe then sorry. I get out of my car and start making my way down the street. The street and sidewalks blossom with life and it becomes a bit crowded as I reach the crosswalk. But after a few minutes of walking down the street I finally reach my complex. Sighing in relief as I reach my front door, but it swings open before I can ever reach for my keys. I yelp and to my surprise, i was dragged inside and held in a tight embrace.

"Lucy! I missed you so much." his chest rumbles against my ears and my face is squished against his broad chest. He breathes heavily and lets go a big sigh.

"You're smothering me!" I tease. He lets go of me, i close our front door and then stand tall infront of him. Well, maybe not tall since he is quite taller then me. "How could you have missed me? You saw me this morning before you left for work." I taunt.

"I know, but you're so... special that I miss it when you aren't around me. Even Lector misses you too!" He says as he points out that his orange tabby cat is now rubby himself against my leg, though the cat probably wants to be fed.

"Sting, I think Lector just wants to be fed." I tell him. He looks down at lector and frowns.

"I just fed the dumbass." He picks the tabby up and starts sprinkling kisses on the felines face. I giggle. Sting puts the cat down then sits on the couch and and pats his lap, beckconing for me to join him. I check the time on my phone, 4:58, I've got work in an hour, so I have time to chillax. I walk over to our couch and am about to plop down right next to him, but he grabs my hips and sets me down on his lap. I yelp, not expecting the sudden gesture.

I turn on the TV and start flipping through the channels, though I get a little distracted as Sting wraps his hands around my waist and starts planting wet kisses on my neck. My skin produces goosebumps at his touch. I stop flipping through the channels and end up on the local news, and I turn myself around to face him, his eyes are filled with lust.

I sigh with a grin. "Sting, I don't have time to-" he cuts me off with a kiss to the lips and I lean into it. His kisses are feverish, and he looks up at me with a smirk before trailing kisses down my cheek, to my jaw, and to my neck. I throw my head back to give him easy access and close my eyes, I focus on the way his hands move around my body.

"..._In recent news, a girl around the age of Sixteen went missing yesterday around 2:00 pm. Police reports say the teenager was on her way home after her parents excused her from school for not feeling well._"

I push Sting away and I get up off his lap. "..Wait a second." I turn up the volume.

"_Her parents said she never came home, and when police went to investigate, they found the students car still in the parking lot, keys on the ground, and an open bottle of honey that appeared to be on her car at first, that was now on the floor. The teenager attends Mavis High, and her name is Wendy Marvell._"

I look back at Sting with a concerned look on my face. He looked at me confused, but stress all the same.

"_Police are looking into the situation, as they believe it is part of the sex-trafficking problem in Fiore. Police also warn young women, and teenagers and children of both genders to be on gaurd._"

I look at Sting and he sighs as he puts his head in his palms and rubs his face. I start to stutter and choke up on my words with the bile thats rising in my throat. "Sting that could've been me today." I tell him. He looks up at me, but he doesn't look surprised, just angry. "I was walking to my car in the campus parking lot and there was honey on top of my car. I didn't even stop to look at it, I just got in my car and left." I start to choke up on my sobs now. He stands up and embraces me.

"That will never happen to you. I promise." he assures me.

But honestly, how could he know? Sure I've taken some training classes and I know how to defend myself, but it's all for not when people in the sex-trafficking industry come after you. They have guns, elite fighters, it's a whole ordeal.

I erase my mind from any doubts i have and just put my trust in Sting. He's been with me for almost two years after all. How could I not trust him?

I walk away from Sting's embrace as I go to take a shower and wash the imaginary dirtiness I feel on myself. Imagining what those poor girls and young boys are going through makes me feel sick and dirty. I swallow the bile in my throat and finish my shower. I blow dry my hair and put on some light makeup to make myself a little younger than 23. Though it sickens me, it bring more male customers in if I look like an 18 or 19 year old.

Though its the middle of april, it's chilly, so I decide to got with jeans for the work day, plus since I work at 6 pm, it'll start to get darker, which means chillier. I slip on some black high wasted jeans and my chunky non slip shoes for the job. I slip on my baby pink crop top, that labels 'Fairy Tail' in large red letters, and 'Bar and Grill' in smaller black letters under the main name. I tie my long blonde hair into low pigtails and decide I'm ready for the rest of the night.

I walk out of my room and look around. "Sting?" I call out. No response. "Sting!?" I call again, a little louder this time so hopefully he hears me, but to no response again._ Perhaps he left when I was getting dressed? _I shrug it off and start to walk down the block to Fairy Tail.

The Bar was only a block away, so I usually walked anyway, there was no need to go get my car for now. As I walk into the bar, I realize its a Tuesday night, and although we have Taco Tuesday specials, happy hour is over and the restraunt isn't as busy as usual. I go clock in at the computer at the bar and set my stuff down in the little cubby. I turn to see my co-worker at the end of the bar.

I walk towards him. "Why'd they need me to come in if it's such a slow night?" I ask him. He looks over his shoulder and instantly notices me. He turns around and gives me his full attention.

"Who knows, but hey, it's free hours, so I wouldn't complain." I giggle. I nudge him on the arm and he nudges me back.

"I suppose your right. Who knows, maybe Laxus'll let me drink on the job like Cana does. I could use it honestly." I mentions. The man standing infront of me looks at me concerned. His deep crystal eyes almost stare into my soul.

"Why's that, huh?" He says. I tilt my head.

"Why's what?" I sit there dumb founded.

He chuckles. "Why could you use a drink." He says whilst pouring a shot of whiskey I assume is for me. He slides it over the counter and i swallow the burning liqud like its water.

"Well, I heard about this girl on the news today-" I cough slightly giving into the burning sensation on my throat. "and police reports say she was taken using that stupid honey distraction method."

"And why does that stress you out?" he quiries, noticing something else was up.

I sigh, "Well before i heard that on the news, I was going home from school today, and I saw a bottle of honey on my stupid fucking toyota camry." I say in frustration. "So I didn't think twice before getting in my car and driving away."

He looks at me with kind eyes. "Well I'm glad you are a smart girl. It keeps you safe."

"You calling my sister dumb then?" a man says, slurring his words, as he comes up to the bar. His eyes look heavy and puffy. They're red, like he's been crying.

"What do you mean?" I ask gently. The drunken man comes up the bar and almost collapses getting up on the bar stool.

"T-That was my sister... Th-that w-was in the news." He says, hiccups through his sentence. "What's your name, kid?"

"Gray." my co-worker answers. "If that was your sister, shouldn't you be looking for her now?" Gray asks him.

He hiccups. "I already know where that munchkin is." He finishes.

"Hold up," Gray says. "First of all, if you know where she is why don't you inform the police?"

The drunk scoffs. "The police are all corrupt in this town. Theres only a couple of good ones and she doesn't handle the special victums unit." it sounded like he was talking about someone specific.

"What's your name?" I inquiry. The Pinkette looks up at me.

"Natsu." he slurs.

"Natsu, if you don't mind me asking. Where is she?" I ask him. He looks up at me and studies my face.

He smirks. "You're really fuckin' hot." He blurts. He heart thumps and my face turns red.

"Whoa there hot-head, Lucy isn't on the menu." Gray steps in. Natsu snorts.

"What, she your girlfriend or something?" He teases, I can feel Gray's body tempreture rise at the question and his ears become red.

He chokes on his words. "N-no! She's dating someone else." Natsu's face turns into a frown.

"Too bad, I could've shown you a good time." He smirks. I frown.

I try to ask my question again. "Where is Wen-" I get cut off by him standing up abruptly.

"I've got to go." He mumbles. I jog out from behind the bar and help him walk to the front door.

"I can call an uber for you?" I ask. He shakes his head and mumbles something about living close by. "Hey, Natsu?"

"What." He slurs. I jump a little at his harsh tone of voice. I struggle to gain my confidence asking my question.

"I was wondering if you could take my number. I would like you to contact me on Wendy's situation." I ask, feeling like I over stepped a boundry. But he nods, and I entire my phone number into his cell and he walks off into the distance. I furrow my brows as I see him disappear around the corner. I walk back into the establishment to notice Gray is talking to our boss. I walk up with a sweet smile, seeing him more as a friend then a boss.

"Evening, Blondie." He says, I pout.

"You're blonde too." I mumble as he pats me on the head. He continues talking to Gray.

"Oh, Lucy also mentioned the honey thing happening to her too." I frown.

"We're still in that convorsation?" I ask. Gray nods.

"Well, I'm you're okay Blondie." he adds.

"Thanks Laxus, I apreciate it."

Gray continues to talk. "Anyway, the hot-headed idiot started talking about how he knew where his sister was and how our police force is corrupted. Then started hitting on Lucy." Laxus's attention turned to me.

"Did he touch you?"

"No! No, not at all. The man was just drunk. I don't blame him." I nervously laugh. It was no secret to me that people found me good looking. I even admired the way I looked, though I used to not. Confidence is everything. Laxus huffs and walks back to his office. The brute man has never been much for words, or nice words at that, but I know he cares.

Gray and I get back to work as the bar starts to hit a busy rush at 8:00 tonight, and I end up not getting off of work until around 2 am, since I was the one closing the restraunt. Once I locked the doors and tucked my set of restraunt keys into my bag, I started walking home.

The night atmosphere gave me an eerie feeling though. I walked with my arms around myself, as the night air started to warm up due to seasons, but was still pretty cold. As I turn around the corner that brings my apartment to view, i felt something grab my shoulder, and my stomach dropped in fear.

I couldn't scream, not only was this muscular figure holding my mouth shut but I was so paralyzed with fear that I couldn't move.

I wouldn't move.

"Don't scream, don't struggle. Just follow me and you will return safe." the man said. I mean, i guessed it was a man because no woman could have a voice so deep and husky. His voice sent chills down my spine, and when he let go of my mouth, I turned to face him, but his back was already to me, leading me down the street to hide in an alley way. He ducks behind a couple of cargo boxes left for a store and pulls me down with him. His hand firm on my hip making sure I don't run.

"I swear I just saw that blonde chick!" a man voice said.

"Yeah me too! Who knows, maybe she reached home before we could grab her." Another voice said, his voice sounded strained.

"Ugh! The things I would've done to her if the boss let me." A third voice said.

My face went pale, and the men walked by without taking notice to me, or this giant brute of a man who was holding me hostage.

The man semi-kidnapping me checks the corner and gestures his hand to follow him back to where he took me from. His back faces me again, and we are already in front of my complex buildling.

"Uhm..." before I could utter any words towards him, he turns around, and all I can see are crimson eyes and piercings for eyebrows, and then he runs off.

I feel like I am going to faint, and I nearly do before I see Sting coming my way opposite of where the crismon eyed man came from. "Sting!" I yell breathlessly.

"Lucy? What're you doing out here?" he replies, and before I knew it, I collapse of exhaustion.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE: so Lucy is a little bit older then most people that are in college because she went to junior college first and then went to a four-year.**

**AGES:**

**Lucy: 23 (In college, aspiring social worker works as a bartender at Fairy tail Bar and Grill)**

**Sting: 26 (Owns a bar called SaberTooth Joint)**

**Rogue: 25 (Profession Uknown)**

**Natsu: 24 (Profession unknown)**

**Gajeel: 24 (Profession unknown)**

**Gray: 23 (Last year of college, aspiration unknown, works at fairy tail BaG as bartender)**

**Laxus: 27 (Manager of Fairy Tail BaG)**

**Lisanna: 22 (Third year of college, aspiring Veteran, Works at a pastry caffee)**

**Wendy: 16 (High schooler, Profession unknown(for right now ;)))**

**Erza: 25 (Detective at Magnolia branch)**

**Levy: 21 (third year of college, aspiring Author and part time Waitress at fairy tail BaG)**

**(These are all the people I believe will play a more significant role then most, EX. Mira wont play a huge role, so it doesn't matter her age. Makarov may play a significant rol, however we don't really care how old he is, he's just old.)**

**More people will play bigger roles but I dont wanna expose anything quite yet**


	2. Bad, Bad Man

**I keep writing things in one sitting because I actually want to complete a story for once. **

**Also i dont have a proof reader so mind my spelling errors and shiet like that.**

* * *

My eyes flutter open. My head pounds and i bring my hands up to my face to to rub my eyes, realizing I still had mascara on.

I look to my left and see Sting has either already left for work or something like that. I drape my arm over my eyes and scrunch my nose. Trying to recollect the events that took place before I collapsed.

Who was that man? Why did he try 'save' me like that?

What was he, a fuckin' vigilante?

I scoffed to myself before streching. I let out a groan as i strecthed and got up to head to the shower. Looking at my face in the mirror, I cringe at the bags under my eyes, and the makeup smeared across my face. I realize it's Wednesday and become joyful at the thought of not having any classes today. Though, I do have work at 5 today, at least i shouldn't have to stay long as I'm not closing tonight.

I hop in the shower and let the hot water relax my muscles. For some reason, I am extremly sore, even thought I hardly did any more movement i usually do in my daily life. I step out the shower and pat my hair dry. I end up french braiding it so it dries in waves later on, and throw on some sweats. I check my phone and realize it's almost noon.

"I was knocked out for ten hours?" I mumble to myself in surprise. I sigh, as i figure out the source of my grogginess is over sleep. I unlock my phone and see that Sting has texted me. His text says he left early for work due to something happening with the workers there.

Weird.

I make myself some waffles and plop myself down on the couch. I flip through the channels and end up on the local news channel again. Nothing so far interesting. Something about a Girl Scout fundraiser, a dog being able to say goodnight, and a local break-in at a house. Nothing new.

Magnolia was never a safe town, so incidents like break-ins and robberies on the street are old news. The sex-trafficking problem started two years ago, and no police force has ever been able to locate more than one brothel a year. I remember hearing about one of the shuts downs on the news. It was conected to some antique shop that some old lady ran. The old woman got arrested along with the traffickers, guess she thought it was good money, and it turns out she was a drug pusher too.

"_... In more recent news, another-_"

My doorbell rings. I groan and yell, "Coming!" as I set my plates in my sink and grab a jacket to throw on over my tank top that exposes a little to much. I walk over to my door and unlock the double lock system Sting had set up a while ago. I open to the door, and to my surprise, the man from last night was standing behind a red haired woman.

"You?" The raven-haired man and I saw in unison. The red-head looks at the man.

"You know each other, Gajeel?" The woman asks. Gajeel shakes his head, and whispers something to the woman, she looks towards me, "Hello Lucy Heartfilia, My name is Detective," she shows me her badge, "Erza Scarlet and this is my partner Gajeel Redfox. I'm here to ask a couple of question about Lisanna Strauss?" She says. I look surprised, and gesture for them to come in.

My heart sinks as the name they said sits in. Lis? Did something happen? "Did something happen to Lis?" I say, voicing my thoughts. The woman named Erza looks at Gajeel and they exchange a stressed and sad look. Erza gestures for me to take a seat, and I sit down at my dining room table and she follows suit. Gajeel just stands next to her, with a stern and uncaring look on his face. It makes me feel cold.

I think the scarlet haired woman picked up on how his stare made me feel, and she nudged his hip with her elbow. She spoke up. "Lisanna Strauss has been reported missing and was last seen yesterday around 4:30 pm. The person who reported her missing, who I cannot mention by name, said she was going to check up on you before she left 'family gathering.'" she said. I was astounded.

"L-Lis never showed up h-h-here." I said, choking on my words as i was trying to swallow the sobs that wanted to escape my throat. Girls are disappearing left and right. This is a fucking nightmare. "This has to be some practical joke right?" I asked, my eyes blury with tears. "I mean, I even saw you last night. You 'saved' me from a bunch of hooligans." I said gestering towards the raven-hair man. "Was that just a setup to get me to believe this stupid fucking prank?" I stand up and grab my phone from my kitchen counter top and start dialing Lis. It rings a few times and then it goes to voicemail.

I shake with fear, frustration, sadness and anger. I can't believe this is happening. Tears are fully streaming down my face. I hiccup as I try not to sob. I dial Lis again.

"You have to be kidding me..." My voice is low, and pile my face in my hands. I suddenly feel a soft pair of hands on my shoulders and I look up to see the female detective. She grabs in a hug and i strangly feel comfortable in this womans arm. It's a motherly feeling.

"I usually do not work on special victims but it's happening so frequently that they asked me to take charge in certain cases. I understand how you are feeling, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to release this information, but I know Lisanna's older sister personally so I can share what you are feeling." She looks down at me. She pulls away and hands me a thick paper card that has her email and personal phone number. It says homicide detective.

"You are a homicide detective but they asked you to work on special victims?" I ask, she nods.

"It's not my specialty but Gajeel here usually works on those sorts of cases, so my higher up appointed him to me." she mentions. I can feel her tense up, maybe she wasn't supposed to tell me that.

"Anyway," the gruff man speaks up. "We have to get going, we have other leads to follow." he says bluntly, I frowned.

I ask them to keep me updated on anything related to Lisanna, and I end up mentioning Wendy Marvell, and her 'brother' that came into my work the other day.

"Natsu Dragneel?" Gajeel asks me. I nod. "That Flame brained idiot." he mumbles so lowly i almost didn't hear it. Erza looks at him and looks back at me.

"We will keep you updated on both situations, and if you ever think of anything about Lisanna, or anyone else, let us know." She said sternly, fixing her posture to be more professional, as the momment of weakness she showed towards me is over. I thank her and told her i would let her know.

After they leave I collapse on my couch and start sobbing. Everything has gone to shit in less then twenty-four hours.

Lisanna is gone, I've almost been taken, twice! I met two random strangers and now I just want to fall asleep for a year or two.

I sigh and call Sting to see when he would be home. The phone line rang, but it went to voicemail.

"He must not have his phone on him." i mutter to myself and I flip myself onto my back. The time now read 1:47.

My stomach growls even though I had breakfast less then two hours ago, but I decide to go down to the pastry caffee where Lisanna works.

Well, where she used to work, i guess.

As I'm about to leave, I get another knock on my door. I'm slightly annoyed, hoping it wasn't anything that would take up too much of my time, and when I answer the door, I am absolutely bewildered at what I see.

"Rogue?" I utter. The man walks into my apartment before i even get a chance to invite him in. "What're you doing here? Sting is at work." I mention to him, as he was most likely looking for his adoptive brother. He shakes his head, his voice it low.

"I'm looking for you, Lucy." My eyes widen is disbelief.

"Why me?" i ask. He turns to me and looks angery, he suddenly comes marching towards me, and gets right up in my face. I end up walking backwards into a wall as he gets closer. He is so terrifyingly close that i can feel his breath on my face. He stares deep into my eyes with his own blood red irises.

"Who was just here?" He asks. I stand bewildered as how he knew someone was here.

"No one, just me." I lie. I have no idea why I lied, but his gaze struck fear into my heart. He looks at me in desbelief and i turn my face away from his as he starts to make me uncomfortable. He backs away realizing he is a bit too close for comfort. "Why did you assume someone was here?" I ask.

"Because someone was." He insists. I frown.

"It was literally just me, Rogue. Why are you insisting someone was here?" I press on. He looks at me and gives a warning glare to stop asking question.

Rogue was never a person for much words towards me, and it only seemed like he trusted his brother. Which is understandable for someone with his past but I don't understand how he knew someone was here, let alone why he was so angry about it. Maybe he thought the police was threat? But how did he even know it was the police?

We don't have cameras or anything.

"Rogue, could you just leave? You are intruding and Sting isn't here. I don't understand why you are so angry or why you think someone was here but theres nothing I can do to prove to you that there wasn't, so could you please leave?" I try to reason, he shoots me another glare and walks towards the door and slams it on the way out. I sink down into the floor and almost start shivering. What the absolute fuck was going on? Why the sudden outburst?

Maybe I shouldn't tell Sting he stopped by, or that the police was here. Something fishy is going on.

For the rest of my free time I end up just watching TV, I had nothing better to do and my head felt so empty I didn't even want to do anything better. As I was watching TV, my alarm to get ready for work goes off and I get up to wash my face, apply some makeup, and take my same work clothes out of the dry and put them on. I walk to work.

As I enter the establishment, I see my blunette haired friend serving a table, excited that we were working together today, i clock in and then gesture her over once she is done giving the tables order to the kitchen.

"Lu! Oh, I'm so glad you are okay! Did you hear about Lisanna? Oh and Gray told me about the honey incident with your car! Also, the weird pink haired guy you served yesterday!" The chatter bug goes on and I smile just glad the bluenette is okay. I hug her tight. "Lu? Everything okay?

"Yeah, Lev, everything will be okay." I smile. She frowns at my wording of the sentence but knows that everything will be okay, even if it isn't right now. She goes back to work as our hostess seats more people in her section. I tend to the bar nessecities as Cana leaves for the day. Gray shows up an hour or two later and we exchange hellos but he notices I'm in a bad mood and doesn't push further, letting me drown myself in serving customers.

Later on in the night when the rush has calmed down and the bar is half full and the dining tables are close to empty, the pinkette drunk shows up. He sits right in front of me at the bar and asks for fire whiskey. I hesitantly give it to him, but he looks and is acting sober. For now.

"Hows ya' night goin'?" He asks me, his speech is clearer then it was yesterday, indicating that he was slightly more sober.

I look at him suspiciously. "It's going alright." I say. "How 'bout yourself?" I saw whilst pouring a drink for myself.

"Been better." He says. He looks up at me and if i could describe his facial expression in one word, it would be appologetic. "Look, I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday. The situation with my sister is rough and I'm trying to cope the best I can." I smile.

"No worries, I understand." I give him a soft smile, and he returns with a grin that makes my heart skips a beat.

"Man, bartenders really are some of the most understanding people." He says, most likely to himself but I chime in anyway.

"Well, I could be your personal counsler, seeing as I'm studying to become a social worker." I grin

He finishes his drink. "That's pretty neat." He says almost uninterested, I frown but start to refill his drink. "Say, that dude over there," he gestures toward Gray who talking with another customer. "He your boyfriend?" I giggle.

"No, my boyfriend works and owns a different bar." I mention to him. "I only work here because I want relationships and work to be seperate, and it doesn't hurt that one of the waitresses here is one of my closest friednds."

"Ah." he says. "so what bar does your boyfriend work at?" He asks. I become a little uneased as he continues to ask about Sting, but I continue regardless.

"He's the owner of the SaberTooth Joint in the next town over." I say, Natsu suddenly has his eyes wide open and started choking on his drink, and I pour him a glas of water to make sure he doesn't die of asphixiation.

"Sting Eucliffe?" he asks. I gasp internally.

"Yeah... You know him?" I ask. He nods.

"Yeah I know that fucker." He grits his teeth. I almost flinch at his sour tone, the same one he shared yesterday.

"Did he do something wrong to you?" I ask innocently. If Natsu hated Sting? Why did he not ever mention it?

"Yeah, he stole something very fucking valuable to me, and now I have to work for him to get it back. It wasn't even his to steal." He says under his breath, so much i can hardly hear. "But who knows if I'll even..." he starts muttering so low I can hardly hear him. I frown. "Listen Luigi I-"

"Excuse me, it's Lucy, and if you-"

"I'm not done talking Luce." he says sternly. Did he just give me a nickname? How can he say that so non-chalantly whilist having such an angry tone? He starts to continue. "If I were you, I would start asking about his job, and I would also break up with that freak. If you stay in a relationship with him." He looks up at me, his green eyes staring my whole figure down. "You're fucking doomed." He gets up, leaves money on the table, and leaves. I stand there astounded and I look towards the right of me, seeing Laxus just staring me down with concern, and a little bit of disaproval. I furrow my brows.

"What're you looking at sparky?" I say while downing the rest of the drink I poured for myself. He gets an angry look and marches over to me, grabbing my arm and dragging me to his office. "Let go you big lug!" I say. He doesn't. He sits me down at a chair in the small cramped office in the restraunt. He looks at me sternly, and folds his arm accross his chest.

"Why have you never told me your boyfriend was Sting Eucliffe?" He asked. What the fuck?

"What makes you think you had the right to know?" I asked. Seriously, where was this anger coming from? Why the hell was everyone hating on Sting right now?

"Because Sting is a bad, bad man!" Laxus yells, the kitchen starts to look at him and he shuts his office door. I frown.

"So I've been told by a complete stranger, and now you? What the hell is going on? What don't I know?" I ask, I stand up from the seat, getting up in Laxus's face, or as much as i can reach since the moutain of a man is 6'4''.

"Just go home for the night. Don't stay with Sting, go stay with Levy. Hopefully Gramps will be in town by tomorrow afternoon and he can explain to you what's going on." he says. He opens the door and gestures for me to clock out and leave. I open my mouth to protest but, "Blondie, just go." He says, covering his face with is hand. I pout like a child who's being sent to their room, i clock out, and I leave.

Someone needed to seriously explain what was going on, or I was gonna lose my marbles.

I started walking to my comples but stopped midway, remembering what Laxus had asked me. Part of me wanted to defy him, but another part of me wanted to listen to him. Not as a boss, but out of respect for my friend.

Checking my phone, I realized it was a little bit past midnight, and I hear running from behind me. I turn around to see who it was and see Gray trying to catch up with me.

"Hey!" He says breathlessly, "I heard your little argument with Laxus, and was wondering if you needed a place to stay, you could always stay at my place. It's a little messy, but it's closer then Levy's place." he finishes, finally catching his breath after chasing after me. I sigh.

"I don't know what to do. Laxus and the pink haired guy, Natsu, both told me Sting is a bad guy but if he was really bad, don't you think I would have noticed it by now?" I ask him, not looking for a solid answer, and by the looks of it, he did have a solid answer anyway. I take him up on his offering of staying at his place. I roughly knew where Gray lived, and it wasn't quite within walking distance but it wouldn't take long if we did walk. Turns out Gray walks to work anyway so we had no choice but to walk.

Are walk was fairly silent, though we did talk about how Laxus has anger issues. I expressed my frustration to Gray on how neither of the two telling me about my boyfriend had any say in what I should do.

"Lucy," He says, I look up to him, "Don't you think you're being a little stubborn?" he asks.

"Well, I mean, yes but stuborn is good, sometimes." I answer, a little annoyed he is defending them.

"Maybe you should head their advice. I won't tell you break up with him, but if he really is a bad person, you should look into it." He says. I bite my lip before I retort, seeing we are already at his apartment, and I don't want to lose a place to stay tonight. Gray fumbles to unlock his door in the dark but manages to do it.

"Welcome to my humble abode." He says with a monotone voice. I giggle. I walk in and set my stuff on his couch, ready to fall alseep, but he stops me. "You can sleep in my room and I'll take the couch."

My cheeks turn red. "Oh! No it's fine! I don't want to invade your space. You're already letting me stay here to get away from a possble psychotic boyfriend." I laugh dryly. He smiles worriedly.

"Suit yourself. It's a really comfy bed." He taunts me with a smirk. I frown.

"Don't tempt me." I say. He sighs.

"Lucy, I'm letting you sleep in there. You seem stressed and I know you have class tomorrow, so you need the rest."

After we bicker some more, I finally cave in.

"It just feels a little..." I trail off. He scratches the back of his head.

"Weird?" we say in unison. We laugh and then he shows me to his room. He rents a small one bedroom apartment, so there was no guest room. Once I was into his room, I'm over whelmed with the scent of pine needles and rain. It isn't a bad smell at all. Infact, it's quite comforting.

_Wait, what the hell am i thinking?_ I shouldn't be thinking like that. It feels unnatural. I set my stuff on his bed. After all, it does look comfy, and the comforter looks warm, so I know I won't get cold. He directs me around the rest of the room, letting me know where the bathroom was and stuff, and if I needed anything in the middle of the night, to not hesitate to wake him up. I nod and he leaves the room and closes the door behind him. I take this moment to really get a good look around his room.

The walls were painted a soft blue color, while everything else was white, with a hit of black accent. His bed frame was white, the sheets, the comforter, while his desk was black, and his nightstand was black. I take the pair of sweats he handed me before and change into them, though i could barely get them past my thighs.

I plug my phone into the wall and set it on the night stand, crawling under the white comforter before falling asleep.

Next thing i know, I'm waking up in a cold sweat, screaming. I'm trembling with fear and my heart is pounding so loud. Gray comes through the door, shirt off and eyes half closed. "Lucy? Everything okay?" he says, his voice sent chills down my spine. It was gruff, and you could tell he was tired.

"Y-yeah, ju-just a nightm-mare." I utter. He nods and slowly starts walking away, but I feel the fear start to consume me again and before i could even process what my mind was thinking, I just yelled his name.

"Yeah?" he asks. My heart beating so fast, and I couldn't tell if it was because of Gray, or because of the fear of the dream I couldn't even remeber.

"W-Would you stay with me?" I ask, he looks puzzled. "Like, sleep next to me?" I ask. Even in the dark I could tell he was a little flustered, but too tired to fully display emotion.

He crawled into bed with me, and I don't think he was realizing he was doing it, but he pulled me closer to his chest. I didn't get much sleep the rest of the night.

But my phone ringing woke me up from my half daze, and it was now morning, just a little after dawn. I try to pry Gray's hands off me but his grip is just too tight. His hands were wrapped around my waist and his chin was rested atop my head. Our legs intertwinded with each other.

I think my phone ringing woke up Gray too, because the not-so-early bird let go of me to put a pillow over his head. I use the opourtunity to answer my phone with out ever looking at the contact.

_"Lucy! Where the actual fuck are you?"_ Sting yelled in my ear.

* * *

**So, i know I'm picking Gray as a favorite right now but it was just so easy to get a little fluff scene out of them that I had to. I will definitely bring in more fluff with the other ships. **


	3. Is there a problem?

**Am I okay? Proably not. I am speed writing :)**

**keep in mind that STING AND LUCY ARE NOT ENDGAME**

**Sting is a little BITCH in this story and that will reveal itself.**

**Also TW for abuse. **

* * *

My anxiety has been through the roof since this morning, and I have been neglecting to tell Sting what was going on. For some reason, I felt like Maybe the things Natsu and Laxus might have said were true. But they wouldn't even tell me why they thought he was a bad man? Or what Sting supposedly stole from Natsu? Why did Sting not mention him knowing my boss? Or maybe he did, and I just neglected to listen to him at the time.

I got ready for my class at Gray's apartment. I had class at 10:00 and ended up just going in my work shirt and the sweats Gray lended me. We had breakfast together after Gray had officially woken up. Turns out he's not so much a morning person as some people might be.

He was super kind to me after I got off the phone with Sting this morning, Sting had blown a fuse because I didn't tell her where I was going last night. I ended up telling him I spent the night at Levy's, and he seemed to accept that but still wanted to talk to me after I got out of class.

I didn't want to imagine the rage that he would've had if I told him I had spent the night at my male co-workers house. He sent me chills. Something was totally off, and I had no idea what it was. I was almost to tears after the phone call.

After Gray and I ate breakfast he gave me a ride to my car, since it was still parked a block away from my apartment with Sting. I had my car keys with me thankfully so I didn't have to go inside the apartment to get the keys. I had no idea if Sting was home or not. I ended up arriving early to my class so I sat outside and started reading for a little until the Proffessor showed up. I talked with a couple of my classmates about missing assignments and if i could text them pictures of the assignments later. After class finished, I visted the last place I had talked with Lisanna. It brought me to tears. Almost. I tried to suck them up, because I never liked crying in public or making too big of a scene.

I started walking away from the scene with my head down, but I ended up bumping into some, almost making me fall on my ass.

"Watch where you- Oh, It's the Bunny Girl." a gruff voice said. I almost didn't recongize it, but I looked up to see the brute Detective that came to my door the other day.

Wait, "Bunny girl?" I ask. He snorts.

"Yeah, the way you walk makes your- uh," he stutters. "the way you walk look like your bouncing." he answers.

"Oh." I say shyly. "Well, sorry for bumping into you."

He scoffs. I frown in response. I'm not gonna get much convorsation from this guy, am I? I start to walk away, but he grabs my arm and pulls me behind a building. He hushs me quiet and puts my head against his chest.

"What is with you-" he hushes me louder, and peers from behind the building. _What is with the fuckin guy and holding me hostage?!_ I kick the big lug in the dick and as he falls to his knees, I walk out only to meet face to face with-

"Sting!" I gasp. My knees start to tremble. Anxiety starts to overwhelm my body.

"Lucy! Where have you been?" He states angrily, but trying not to make is voice over heard. "When I walked outside I saw your car was gone from where you last parked it and-"

"Oi!" Gajeel called out. My body shook harder.

"Is there a problem, Sir?" Sting asked innocently, but his voice had a hint of sarcasm.

"Would you take you arm off her?" Gajeel said sternly. My eyes opened wide, and I didn't even notice Sting was grabbing my arm roughly. He let go, and I fliched. I brushed my finger along the red area and realized it might even leave a bruise.

Sting Laughed. "My bad, heh." He scratched the back of his head. "I just hadn't seen my lovely girlfriend is a day and I was afraid she had gone missing like those other girls." Sting said. My heart thumped. Why did he lie? I told him where I was, why was he acting like he didn't know? "Now, if you'll excuse us." He grabbed my hand roughly, and it looked like Gajeel wanted to jump in but I was already being dragged away by Sting.

Sting had told me to meet him at home, so I walked to my car and started to drive home. Part of me wanted to turn around, call Detective Erza, and hightail it to somewhere else.

Somewhere safe.

But what reason did I have to call the Detective for? Sting wasn't doing anything illegal, and he didn't mean to hurt me.

Right?

I reach home and this time I park in the complex. I walk up to the door, afraid to open it, and before I could even get my keys, Sting opens the door.

How does he even know I'm there before I open the door?

He pulls me inside and closes the door behind him, though I'm not met with the warm embrace he usally greets me with. I met with yelling.

"Where the hell were you last night?" He shouts. I shiver.

"I told you." I begin. "I spent the night at Levy's, she needed a friend and-" He cuts me off.

"You didn't spend the night at Levy's." He snapped. His Icy blue eyes stared at me with fury.

"Yes I did! I told-" Suddenly, my cheek is burning and it stings.

He slapped me.

"No you fucking didn't! Levy is missing!" he screams. I freeze, tears are streaming down my face already, and my hand reaches to cover my cheek. "Levy is missing, so where the fuck were you last night?!"

"Levy isn't missing! They would've released an article or something about it!" I mumble back, too afraid to shout. "I saw her last night."

"She missing, Lucy, and you're going to tell me where you were last night."

I couldn't move. I couldn't talk. I couldn't rebuttle. I was just standing there, afraid.

Afraid for my life.

After a few seconds of silence, Sting embraces me in a hug, but I don't return the gesture. He starts petting my head. "I just love you so much, you know that right?" he whispers into my ear. I nod, but say nothing back. "I was just worried."

We stood there for a few seconds, and I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell, kick and punch, but I just sat there witha throbbing cheek and let him hug me.

He let go. "Now, get some rest, and don't leave. I'll be back soon." he said.

"Y-you're leaving?" I whispered so low, I didn't even think he heard it at first.

"Yeah, I have to go back to work."

Work. His work. Natsu told me to ask. But I already knew what he did for a living, he owns a restraunt.

Natsu. He stole something from him? Should I ask?

"Well, I'll be back soon." He cuts off my thinking and I didn't even realize he had already left for the door. He closes it shut and I'm left alone is my home. My apartment.

It didn't feel like home. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be around him.

I called Levy's cell number and she didn't pick up. I call her again, she didn't pick up. I call one more time. She didn't pick up.

I fall to my knees and I can't help but start sobbing. What was happening? Lisanna was gone, Levy was gone, that supid fucking honey trick was played on me. Why was everyone around me suddenly disapearing? Where were they going?

I had so many questions i needed answers to but no one to answer them. I thought about calling Detective Erza, but I couldn't meet her here. I would have to meet her somewhere else. So I packed a bag, put on some black jeans and a yellow cropped tank and went to the only place I felt was safe.

Fairy Tail.

My hair was still wavy from yesterday, so I just left it down. I walked out my apartment and got to my car to leave for the Bar. I called Detetive Erza on the way and asked if she could meet me there. I'm just glad it was my day off.

Once I got there, I kept getting looks and stares from the patrons at the establishment, and self-seated myself at a random table near the bar. I saw Erza walk into the bar, with much more casual attire then she had on when she came to the apartment the other day. She was wearing a quarter sleve blouse and blue jeans, with her hair up in a high pony tail. She notices me and sits down.

She gives a soft smile, but then she also looks at me with a worried look. "Ms. Lucy, what happened to your face and arm."

I felt my body go numb, I forgot that Sting had- that he had hurt me. The thought rose bile in my throat. "I-I fell down the stairs." I lied. I don't know why. Why I didn't tell her Sting didn't just hurt me.

"Lucy, stairs don't do that to people." she said softly. "I know the manager here if you would like to go to the back office?" She asked. I perked my head up.

"You know Laxus?" I asked. She nodded, and we walked into the back office. Laxus was already there, surprised to see the red-head. But I was even more surprised to see that Laxus was talking to both Natsu and Gray.

The back office was larger then the one Laxus had brought me into last night, this one was where we hold staff parties, and meetings and such.

"Lucy, what're you doing here? It's your day off." Gray said.

"Oi, what happened to your face?" The dumb pinkette said bluntly. My eyes started to burn with tears. Why was I crying so damn much? My life had gone to shit in 72 hours.

"Who did that to you?" Laxus asked the smarter question, thought it was the toughest question to answer. I started to get choked up. I didn't want to cry in front of these people. I wanted to look strong in front of them but I just couldn't. I started letting out ugly sobs, and closed my eyes and put my face in my palms. I just stood there, sobbing into my hands for a few minutes, and I couldn't stop myself.

"Lucy." Gray has started, his tone gentle. My crys quieted. "Who did that to you?"

"...S-St-" I kept hiccuping on my sobs, and I couldn't get his name to slip out of my mouth. I was scared of what might happen, of what he might do.

"Did Sting do this to you?" Natsu asks. His voice is blunt but I could tell he was trying to be gentle. I nodded as I hiccuped innto Erza's shoulder.

"H-He grabbed my arm in public after I got out of class," I started, my becoming less of a whine, trying to sturdy myself. "Gajeel asked him to take his hand off me. I went home then to talk to Sting to tell him I was at Levy's but then he slapped me!" I said in a sort of whisper-type-yell. "He said Levy was missing. That's why I called you Detective." I look up at Erza. She looks down at me with widened eyes.

"That information hasn't been released to the public yet." Erza States.

"Then how'd he know that?" Laxus asks.

"I think I have an answer to that." the group turns around to see Gajeel holding a manilla colored folder in his hands. "Makarov asked me to build a case file on this fucker months ago." He states. "Turns out the guy is the leading cause-"

"For the girls going missing." Natsu states. "He took my sister. He's black mailing be to get her back, and that's I came here. To reach out the Gramps."

"Wait what?" I asked. "What does gramps have to do with any of this?" I finish.

Laxus looks at me, "Blondie, this is what I meant-"

"Shut up you big lug!" I snap. "This doesn't make any sense! How did I not know any of this?" I shout. "About Sting? Why is he taking my friends?"

"We don't have the answers to that right now." Erza says. I look at her with hopeless eyes.

"Well what am I supposed to do? I live with the monster." I mutter.

"You can stay with one of us for the time being?" Gray spoke up. I looked at him puzzled.

I looked at Erza, obviously my first choice would be her, but I don't know her that well. My second choice would be Gray, but I don't want to impose on his apartment anymore. I already stole his bed.

"I'll just rent a room at a motel or something."

"That wouldn't be smart. If you go missing from Sting, he might check your recent credit or debit card purchases." Gajeel mentions, "That's only if you have a joint account or share an account." Crap.

"We have a joint account." I tell them. The air becomes colder.

"You'll have to use cash only. We can go to your bank or an ATM and draw out some money. That will be suspicious but it won't tell him where you are." Erza says.

"Lucy just stay at my house again, I really don't mind." Gray says. Laxus's brows furrowed

"She stayed at you house? When?"

"Last night. My place was closer then Levy's so I suggested-"

Natsu scoffed. "That's a little creep don't you think?" He snicked.

"You pickin' a fight hot-head?" Gray shouts.

"Are you, Icicle fuck?" Natsu snickers.

"Boys." Erza's voice boomed. The two boys quite there glares at each other and quickly became submissive towards the tall red-head.

"Well I wouldn't mind staying at Gray's again. Since I've been there before." I add before any more bickering could happen. Grays smiles triumphently, and Natsu pouts his face.

"Honestly," Laxus chimes in, "Wouldn't be best if she kept moving around on places she stayed? Why doesn't she rotate who she stays with until we can get any firther information?" Erza thinks for a minute and nods in agreement, the rest of the room doesn't seem to disagree either.

"So she could start at Gray's house since she's more comfortable there?" Gajeel asks. Erza nods.

"I don't understand though." I answer. "Why would I even be on Stings 'list'?" I ask. "Why am I the one who has to be protected?"

"You're a psych major aren't you?" Natsu asks. "What usually happens when manipluative people like Sting get in a relationship, and the partner decides to leave the manipulator?"

I shiver. "They basically stalk them like prey, and manipulate-" The realization hits in, and my voice gets lower. "...them into eventually come back by playing with feelings..." I trail off.

"You can't fall for any of that." Erza says. I nod in agreement as the rest of us figure out the rotation setting and what to do about the rest of my stuff that was in Stings apartment, because I need my clothes, laptop, and everything. Erza said she would handle it if I just gave her my key.

"By the way," I stop Erza to say something to her. "Sting always knew to open the door before i even got my keys out of my bag." I say.

"Do you guys have security cameras?" She asks. I shake my head.

"Not that I know of." I continue. "He always called it his 'girlfriend sense' as a joke. But now i'm starting to think something else was at play."

"Thanks for letting me know." she says on her way out. I grab the rest of my things and ditch my car at work, suggested by Laxus, and Gray and I walk to his apartment. Sort of an awkward silence fell as we were walking before we reached his apartment. I had my head down the entire time, trying not to think about the current sitation at hand. Wondering how Lis, Lev, and Natsu sister were doing.

And how many other girls he have a hold on?

Not before long we reached Gray's apartment and I set my stuff down on his couch.

"You aren't planning on sleeping on the couch, are you?" He asks with a snort. I blow a raspberry at him.

"Nah, I think I'll take up your whole bed." I bicker.

"Not if I beat you to it!" He says as he sprints to his room. I jump up and run after him. He ran so fast he nearly tripped, giving me the lead.

I was literallt a foot away from the bed when he picks me up by the waist and drops me on the bed. I let out a quick yelp and we start laughing hysterically at each other, and then I realize.

"You know you just put me on the best first right?" I ask. He nods.

"So?"

"That means I win! You basically forfeited." I retort. He give a sigh of defeat and marches himself to the living room. I kind feel sad seeing him leave. It gives me an unexpected pang in my heart. It's a little bit of an unusual feeling, but familiar all the same. I just don't know where I've felt this feeling before.

I treat myself to his shower and let my muscles relax under the steaming water, and as I get out, I realize my stuff was put on the floor i two boxes. A note lies on top.

_'Got your stuff with out a problem. -E'_

"So Erza was able to get my stuff, huh?" I mumble to myself. I smile at the kind and the out-of-the-way gesture. I'll makre sure to ask her if she wants anything in return.

I dried myself off and was able to put my own clothes on this time instead of using Gray's sweatpants. They were a little too tight on me last time. Gray is definitely a built man, but my hips are wide, and his are not.

I laugh to myself a little bit and walk out of his bedroom, seeing Gray on the couch in his own lounging clothes. It almost feels a little bit too casual for just friends to be in a house like this.

Hell, all of this seems a little too casual. "Hey," Gray says, breaking my thoughts. "Want a drink?" he said. I nod yes and before he can even pour me a glass, I take the whole bottle and chug a couple of shots. I cough a little bit, still feeling the burn on my throat but Gray just laughs at me. I sit down next to him and for the next couple of hours we just sit and talk about how our lives are going, besides the whole Sting issue.

"So, did you know Gramps was involved in any of this?" I ask, looking out Gray's window, the sun had already set and it was well past dusk.

"I knew Gramps used to work for a part of the Goverment that was undisclosed, but that's pretty much it." He answers. I sigh.

"So what about you and Natsu huh?" He tensed. "You seem to bicker a lot like you know each other."

"Natsu and I used to go to Highschool together before he got expelled for lighting the blinds on fire in one of our teachers classes." Iflinch.

"So, is he a pyromanic?" I ask.

"Personally, I think he's just an idiot." Gray retorts. "I didn't even recognize him at first. The fucker has natural pink hair but he used to dye it blonde in High School." I laugh, but my laugh quickly turns into a yawn. Gray looks at me, "Why don't you go to bed?" he suggests. I nod, almost falling asleep right then and there. But then the sudden realization of sleeping alone hits me, and I instantly become wide awake.

Gray noticed my change in behaviors and asks me whats wrong. "I.." I start to trail off, but continue. "I don't really want to sleep alone." I admit.

"Do you want me to sleep next you like last night?" he asks. My cheeks feel hot, but I can't tell if it's from the alcohol we've been drinking or the idea of being so close to Gray again. Though the idea makes me hot-and-bothered, I nod my head yes, as we both strech and yawn instinctivly. We shut the lights off in his living room, leaving only his kitchen light on and make our way to his bedroom.

I jump into the best and let out sigh of relief from the warm comfort. Gray crawls in next to me and shuts off his bedside lamp. The darkness surrounds me and i instantly start to shiver with fear.

I think Gray felt me shaking, because after a while he grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him.

And there, I fell asleep in his cool embrace.

* * *

**Honestly this might just become a Gralu story from the looks of it but the rotation thing will play into the idea of other ships so hopefully i change my mind**

**ALSO BEFORE YOU GO AND REVIEW MY STORY ON HOW MANIPULATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WORK. DON'T. I don't need a lecture on something i expirenced first hand, and everyone has different expirences. **

**Now the first few chapters have really been setting up the rest of the story, yes lucy will prob be a damsel in distress but she will not be totally helpless.**

**Also I realized i started typing in third person, so if you see and "She/her" talk, just ignore it, its supposed to be "I/my" (for lucy)**


	4. I'm the Dragon, You're the Princess

**im writing instead of homework :') **

**so further is this story I'm going to display how much sting's manipulation has already set on Lucy over the two years they were together. Maybe I'll throw in a back story later down the line when i think Lucy is ready to accept her past memories.**

**(this is more for me to remeber but you guys also to know)**

**Lucy Schedule: Sunday: No work, no school. Monday: School morning, Work night. Tuesday: School morning, work night, Wednesday: Work night, Thursday: School morning, Friday: Work night, Saturday: No work, no school.**

* * *

This is the third time this morning my phone has woken me up by ringing. I deny the call for the third time, not even thinking about who it is, set my phone on do not disturb and put it back on the bedside table. I attempt to flip myself around on the mattress I'm lying on and start to struggle. I notice arms are wrapped around me and panic set in. My heart starts to beat, until I remeber I was staying here for a couple more days, and the arms dangling around my waist were Gray's.

Even though I realize who it was, a different type of panic starts to set in. Obviously he's asleep so is he even aware his arms around me? What if he gets mad?

What if Sting gets mad? We are still technically together after all, I shouldn't be here, but everyone is telling me I need to stay away from him. My chest starts to ache from all the stress and anxiety I've endured these past few days. I shouldn't have to be dealing with this, but I am.

I manage to flip myself around while Gray still holds onto me. Though I'm surprised to turn around and see Gray's eyes are hazily open. My cheeks start to become red.

"Good morning." Gray says to me. I become even more flustered. I start to choke on my own words, trying to find the right thing to say but nothing comes out.

"S-So-sorry, I'm a cuddler." I say, which isn't exactly a lie, but I never thought to this extent, especially with someone I knew so little about.

He pulls me in tighter. "I dont mind." His voice is raspy, and you can tell he had just woken up. It sent chills down my spine. He sighed heavily before he closed his eyes again.

"G-gray?" I voice quietly, but all I got back was soft snores. I guess he wasn't fully awake. After a few minutes of laying there, I decide I would get up and explore his kitchen. He didn't have much, but I decided I would make coffee so when he woke up, I could make him an iced coffee. I knew he liked iced coffee over warm coffee by the way he always makes his own makeshift iced coffee at work. As I get the coffee machine working, I scavenge through his cabinets to find something to munch on. Though looking through his cabinets, I see pancake mix that was barely touched.

I smile with glee as I get all the ingridients together, and make fluffy pancakes for the both of us, only hoping he wakes up before they get cold.

I set the plates down on the table in his living room, and as if on cue, the raven-haired man slumps out of his bedroom. He looks out the scene displayed before him and instantly becomes over joyed at the idea of breakfast.

I start to hand him the iced coffee i made for him and he looks at me a bit puzzled. "Iced coffee?" He asks.

"I always notice how to like to drink it cold at work on long nights, so I figured..." I trailed off, and sat down at the table, already digging in. He replys and says thank you.

"So you have class today, right?" I ask, he nods as he stuffs his face with his second helping of pancakes. "What're you working towards?" I ask.

"I'm studying for business managment." He answers as he walks to the kitchen to wash off his plate and refill his cup. "I plan to take over Fairy Tail one day, but if not, I'm planning to attempt to make my own franchise."

"What time do you have class?"

"It's at Noon." he answers.

I snicked, looking at the clock beside his TV, "Well you better get going soon, its already 11:40." I say. He looks at the clock and practically sprints into his room to get changed. He's out in less then five minutes, still with bed-head, and tooth paste stuck on his cheek.

"C'mere," I say to him. I lick my thumb and end up wiping the toothpaste away at his cheek. His face almost bursts at all the heat rushing up to his face and I notice I might have over stepped a boundry. I step back. "I'm sorry! I just-"

"So what're you planning to do when i'm gone?" he asks. I look up at him.

"Well, I don't work 'til four, so I was planning on maybe going the library or the mall." I say. He shrugs it off and we exchange goodbyes as he leaves for class.

It's not until he leaves that dread sets in that I'm still trying to avoid Sting. I had no idea what to do about the sitation. I walk into Gray's room and grab my phone that's been on do-not-disturb for the past hour and a half. I turn it on and notice 5 missed calls from Sting and 12 texts. My heart starts to pound in my chest as I read over them.

_"Where are you?"_

_"Lucy, please pick up your phone?"_

_"I thought I told you to stay inside the apartment."_

_"Lucy Pickup your fucking phone, NOW!"_

_"Lucy, did I do something wrong? I love you."_

The texts continue and I start to panic. I turn off read reicpts and just hope for the best. I wash my face under some cold water, get dressed, and head towards the Library, where I'll be spending the next few hours drowning myself in literature about psychology.

I only stayed at the library for about an hour an half, after I left I went down to the Pastry Cafe where Lis works- used to work. I sigh hoping to relieve the pressure on my chest, but it only feels heavier. I had to walk to the Cafe, but luckily it wasn't too far long a walk from Gray's apartment, or the library.

As I walk in, I'm met with a smile from Mirajane, Lis's older sister, though the smile seems plastered accross her face like she's a porcelain statue. I frown.

"Mira, you don't have to put on that smile for me." I tell her. Her smile wavers, but it still is plastered accross her face.

"If I don't stay strong for the both of them, who will?" She asks herself, I just happen to over hear. I didn't want to press so I just order a coffee and a cinnamon bun and leave, hoping Lis gets found soon.

I hope all of them get found soon.

Noticing the time, I get to work, as I already has my work clothes in my bag, all I needed to do was change in the bathroom there. Once I arrive, I thank the lords that it's busy so they tips must be good. I go into the bathroom to change and as I walk out, I bump into a blue-haired woman, who looks extremely frazzled.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" I say as I pat her on the shoulder, the woman flinches under my touch.

"N-No! Juvia is sorry for bumping into you. It's Juvia's fault." The bluenette says. "Excuse me." she mutters as she walks into the bathroom. I'm left puzzled, but regardless I walk to the kitchen to clock in and check if gramps was here yet.

I walk into the smaller office of the kitchen, but no one is there. I go to check the bigger office, and I see Laxus, but no Gramps. I frown.

"Looking for someone?" He asks. I nod. "Gramps isn't back yet. I know I told you he would be back yesterday but he just called me saying he's extended his leave." He answers. I pout. "Do you have a question I can answer?"

I have so many I want to ask, but nothing I don't think he can answer. Hell, I don't think anyone could answer. I look at the ground and start to tear up. I mutter a simple, "No." and walk out into the establishment to start my shift so Cana can end hers. She leaves as soon as she closes her last tab, so I'm left alone to smother myself in work. A few hours pass by, and Gray comes in to work his closing shift. It's about 8pm by the time he clocks in. We don't have time to converse as its a Friday night and summer is closing in, attracting customers and vacationers of all kinds.

By the times the rush finally dies down, its around 11:30, and the kitchen has closed. The only people left are some of the regulars and people still talking at the tables after having several rounds of drinks.

"Lucy?" Gray's voice sounds like a squeak behind me, but a turn around to face the somewhat nervous seeming man.

"Yeah? What's up?" I ask back. Gray looks at me worriedly, and I furrow my brows. "What's on your mind?"

"I don't think it's a good idea if you come back to my apartment tonight."

My chest becomes heavier. "Oh.. Why's that?" I ask, trying to hide my disappointment.

"I'll bring your stuff where ever you are staying next, but I'm going to be staying with a friend for a while." He admits.

"Is there a specific reason?" I push. He shakes his head.

"I'd rather not say." He says. I put my head down. I try to remeber who I'm supposed to stay with next, but will I even be able to show up early? I don't even think the pinkette gave me his address yet, hell, I dont even have his number, but he has mine.

"I understand." I tell him. I rush behind the back to the larger office, hoping to get some privacy, thinking Laxus had left for the night since Gray was closing. I don't see Laxus, so sit myself down at the large office table. I put my head in my hands and focus on my breathing.

"I should just go back to the apartment, and be with Sting." I say out loud to myself, my head still burried in my hands. "I mean, they can't prove anything they're saying. What if they're just lying?" I say to myself self. I look to the vanilla colored walls in the office and wipe my tears away.

Sting has always been good to me right? He never meant to hurt me...

I interanally slap myself from thinking like that, and Erza's words echoed in head. Telling me not to fall for his manipulation, but he wasn't even here and I still felt attached. I hadn't even looked at my phone since earlier this morning. I have no idea if he is still trying to contact me at all.

I'm honestly scared to look, but I should look, and should probably call Erza or someone since Gray doesn't want me at his apartment, and won't tell me why.

I pull my phone out of my bag that I left in the office and turn it on. As expected, Sting had been trying to contact me all day. Claiming he was worried that I was taken, that I needed to respond. That he needed me.

My chest gets heavier with every text I read from him. But I push it aside and dial Erza. It rings only twice before she picks up.

_"Hello?" _a soft voice answers.

"Hey Erza, where are you right now?" I ask. I can hear her sharple inhale throught he phone.

_"I'm at Gray's house. It looks like someone vandalized the place, but we aren't sure who..." _her voice trails off in my head and I'm trying to process what she was telling me. Someone had vandalized Gray's place? Is that why he didn't want me to stay there anymore, and why he was staying with a friend?

_"Lucy?" _Erza's voice echo's through the phone. I mumble a yes. "_What did you need?"_ she asks.

"Well since Gray's place is vandalized and I was supposed to stay there until next Thursday, I don't have a place to be." I gush out, almost choking on my own words, trying to keep the emotions hidden.

_"You are supposed to stay with Natsu next, no?" _she asks. I tell her yes,

"But I don't have his number or address. He has my number-"

_"I'll tell him to call you. He should be awake still." _Erza then hangs up the call, not bothering to say goodbye.

I don't blame her for being so blunt though, she is probably stressed out to the max. After I put my phone in my bag and clock out on the computer in the kitchen, I walk up to Gray who is busy talking to a customer. I wait for their short discussion to end, that way he could focus his attention on me. Once he turns to face me, I speak up. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask him.

"Tell you what?" he asks innocently, acting like he doesn't know what I mean.

"You're apartment." I clarify. "Why didn't you tell me about the-" i throw my fingers up as quotatations and softly say, "mess." I finish.

"Because," he grits his teeth. "There's an on going investigation on who did it and the main suspect is-"

"Sting?"

"Rogue Cheney." He corrects. My heart sinks. Before I could answer Gray, Natsu walks into the bar and rests his hand on my should.

"Sorry about the apartment Icicle dick." Natsu blows a raspberry and Gray just ignores him. Usually, I would laugh at the senseless bickering infront of me, but I can't help but just feel terror.

How did the brothers even know where I was staying? Who I was staying with. My body starts to tremble, which i've become quite accustomed to in the past two days. Natsu looks at me and furrows his brows.

"Here." He takes a scarf off his neck and puts it on me. I grab onto the scarf and notice is smells like campfire. Which is funny considering the story Gray mention about him in highschool.

"Thanks," I mutter. "You didn't have to give me that." He shrugs.

"I did though." He grins. We make our way to his car, he continues to talk. "It's like your the princess and I'm the mighty dragon protecting you!" He smiles as he makes the childish analogy. I tilted my head with a crooked smirk.

"Isn't the prince supposed to protect the princess?" I ask him, chuckling a little bit.

"Not in this story. This Prince is lame and overrated. Dragons are also much cooler anyway." He says, starting the ignition in his car. It revs so loud I thought my ears would burst. We drive towards the end of Magnolia, and we finally make it to a neighbor hood. Natsu parks infront of a tall red house on the corner of Saier street. We get out of the car and he leads me to his front door. We walk into together and I also gawk at how many scorch marks are on the roof.

I snicker, remebering the story and only imagining the events that led up to all these marks.

"Be quiet, my Dad is sleepin' upstairs." he says.

"You still live with your dad?" I ask, he nods.

"My old man is sick, and stressed out more then ever with Wendy missing." He monotounously says.

"Right." I whisper, forgetting his young sister is one of the missing girls. I internally slap myself for a second time today.

"Anyways," he begins. "This'll be your room. I hope you don't mind being in Wendy's room." My heart sank at the name.

"I couldn't." I said. I wouldn't.

"Why not?" he asks. I just tilt my head as if the obvious answer wasn't there.

"Because, it just doesn't feel right." I admit, my eyes burning from tears that were now forming. He furrows his brows. I know I didn't have a right to feel bad about his sister, I didn't even know the small girl. But I just couldn't help myself. It must be terrifying, and god knows what's she's going through right now.

"Okay, but the only room left is my own," he says. "Though my brothers room is open, I doubt Zeref would want anyone in there while he's away." he finishes.

I chuckle nervously. "I could just sleep on the couch, really. It's not problem."

"As much as that would be okay with me, my dad would kick my ass for letting you sleep on the couch." Natsu says.

"Where would you sleep then?" I ask him.

He laughs. "Well I ain't sleepin' anywhere else but my own bed." I sigh nervously, "Get ready, cuz I take up almost the whole bed most of the time."

Great. I sigh to myself. It wasn't ideal, sharing a bed with someone i barely even knew. I would much rather be with Gray right now, because at least I knew him and trusted him a little bit more. All of this was a little too overwhelming for me, but I guess the whole situation is a little too overwhelming for everyone.

It's late at night, so as soon as Natsu shows me to his bedroom, I plop down my stuff on the floor and just collapse on the bed. Before I drifted off to sleep, i felt a heating presence crawl next to me, and a whisper goodnight. I was sound asleep for a while, until...

_Crash._

I jolted up on the bed, trying to determine if what I heard was real or not. My heart started beating as slow as time was in that moment. As I started to convince myself that it was just a part of a dream I was having, I heard it again. My body started shaking violently.

I shoved Natsu's shoulder. The pinkette's arm was firmly clasped around my waist, but I didn't have time to feel flustered. "Natsu." I whsiper as I continue to shake him. This time, I could hear creaking footsteps from downstairs in this house. "Natsu!" I whisper-yell. He groans. "Natsu, I think someone broke in the house!" I continue.

This time, Natsu jolts up, and listens to the noises inside the house. We both hear more creaking footsteps, coming up the stairs. "It's probably just my dad gettin' some water or somethin'" he says as he lies back down. I look at his face angrily.

"But heard something breaking!" I say. He's already drifted to sleep. I frown as I get up myself, my whole body shaking violently from the fear that keeps creeping up on me. I walk to the door and start to slowly creak it open. The hall way is dark, and only the dim moonlight is what helps me see. I see a figure from the corner of my eye, just making its way upstairs. The figure starts to walk towards one of the rooms, and that's when the figure turns on the lights and reveals a small blue haired girl.

"He-Hello?" I mutter. The small girl jolts her head, and imedeatly starts forming tears in her eyes. I become slightly startled. "Hey no! It's okay. Are you lost?" At that point, i finally put the pieces together, seeing a blue-haired girl on TV less then a few days ago. This was- "Wendy?"

Wendy jolts her head up. "H-h-how d-do you kn-know my name." she stutters out. I give a soft smile to the obviously traumatized girl, hoping to make her feel better. It's not until i start walking up to her slowly, that I notice how bruised and battered she really is. Her small body looks unhealthy, her face is slimmer then the picture on TV. Her face is covered with dirt, and small purple and blue marks trail from her head to her thighs. She's in clothes that look way too mature for her age. She clenches her stomach, almost like she is hugging herself.

"I saw you on TV." I said to her, not knowing how to approach the sitation. "Your brother, he's really worried about you." I finish. Her eyes light up.

"Natsu?" she whispers. I nodded.

"Do you want me to wake him up?" I ask. The bluenette nods. "Okay. Stay right there?" I ask as a question. She nods. I walk into Natsu's room and start shaking him violently. He wakes up with a joly and mumbles a 'what' under his breath. I start crying silently, and my voice shakes with both fear and happiness as i say, "Wendy is here."

* * *

**I may focus on the romance part later on in the story but right now it's just trying to figure out Sting's motives with little bits of fluff with all the ships through out the story. **

**I'm honestly most excited to write Laxus's attitude with her since I've never really wrote anything but a "brotherly-sisterly" bond between them. **


	5. A Vulnerable moment

**bit of a shorter chapter this time.**

* * *

"Wendy!" he screams. I jump back at the sudden loudness and intensity in Natsu's voice. The pinkette jumps out of his bed and into the hallway, and i quickly follow. It's still quite dark, the only light is coming from Wendy's room but it's still farther down the hallway. I end up bumping into hard muscle and notice Natsu had stopped walking towards Wendy.

I peer around his tall figure and find the bluenette cowering in a corner, away from the both of us. I'm guessing this behavior isn't normal, because Natsu's face has contorted into this look of confusion and sorrow. I gently place a hand of his shoulder and he looks at me, and it's the first time I've really seen a grown man cry. I mean, I've seen men cry, like my father, but it's usally all physical pain or acting. When it comes to mental pain and emotional pain, its a different sort of cry.

Natsu's eye held such regret, like it was his fault Wendy was hurting. His mouth was a flat line, and showed no sign of a frown or smile, but his lip was quivering violently. Tears continously flowed down his face, and I cringed trying to stay calm and not cry myself.

My hand that was placed onto his broad shoulder moved down his arm and to his hand. I gave it a soft squeeze and gently pushed him the opposite way of Wendy. Once he was standing at his doorway, I started to slowly approach the teenage girl. She no longer looked like the soft, kind hearted girl in the pictures around the home and on the news. She was kneeled on the floor, her hair matted but frizzy. Her eyes were as wide as buttons and her facial expression couldn't decide if she wanted to display that she was scared, angry, or grieving.

I guess she was feeling all three though, and as I'm about to reach my hand out to her, the door directly behind me blows open.

"W-Who's there?" a booming voice echos behind me. I shiver and turn around. I'm met with a man who is taller then me by a mile, his shaggy red hair dangles around his face and his eyes are half-closed. I look behind me again and have fond out Wendy had already rushed herself to what i think is the bathroom and has locked herself in. I sigh heavily and face what I'm assuming is Natsu's dad with an angry look.

The enourmous man gets right up in my face, noses almost touching. He scoffs. "Natsu, I didn't peg you to have dumb blonde as your type." I freeze and look at Natsu, waiting for some kind of remark to come to my defense, but he furrows his brows and walks up to his dad. I look at them both, and notice how much Natsu really looks like his dad. He's almost a carbon copy.

"Igneel, this is the girl I was talking about." Natsu explains. His dad makes an 'oh' shaped with his mouth. "She was staying with Gray but-"

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need to hear anymore." He dad shrugs off. "When did wendy get home?" He says.

At this point, I don't think Igneel has fully comprehended the fact his missing daughter is home. It is the middle of the night after all. "She just got here." I mumble. The grown man gets a worried look on his face a grunts. He walks back into his room and shuts the door. I assume he's going back to sleep. I sit there a little dumb founded at the fact that he wasn't too worried on where the little girl had been. She had been missing for several days and she just shows up out of no where acting almost like an animal.

The poor girl had been through something traumatic, I could tell that much. She was shielding herself away from everyone. I turned around to face Natsu, and though he was no longer crying, I could tell his eyes were puffy and red, even in the dark.

"What do we do now?" I ask. Natsu shrugs. We were both at a loss for a solution with the situation at hand.

Were we supposed to call the police? If we did, I don't think Wendy would talk, she looked too scared to even have people look at her, even her own family members.

"We should probably take her to the hospital." Natsu offers.

"It's probably a good idea, but how are we gonna get her out of the bathroom? I doubt she'll want to be touched." I say.I look at Natsu and his face is fully of worry. I feel bad for him, I feel bad for his dad. I feel bad for Wendy.

I start to slowly approach the bathroom door. I knock on the door and hear Wendy squeak a little. "Wendy, my name is Lucy." I start. "I'm a friend of Natsu's. Your brother and I just want to help." I continue. The silence is deafeaning, and it hurts my heart to not hear a response from the girl. "Can you open the door for me?" I ask.

To my surprise, she opens the door, and there stands a small girl. This is the third time I've really gotten a close look at her, and I'm still astonished by such brusies the girl has all over her. It hurts to think someone would do such a thing. Who would hurt such a small teenager?

Something in the back of my mind tells me Sting would. Sting would hurt such a girl. People keep telling me he's evil, and if he's behind all this, even if he didn't hurt or kidnap these women himself, he's condoning it. Endorsing it.

I reach out my hand to the poor girl and she takes it. I kneel down to her level, so our eye's are paralell to each others. She's been crying, but that doesn't surprise me. My head scrambles to ask the right question, but there are so many I want answered, and I just didn't know what to say to her. How did she get here? Would she be comfortable talking to the police? Who took her? What happened to her?

"Tell me everything." I settle. She looks at me and starts to shake more than she already was. The small bluenette then lunges herself at me with a hug, and with every sob, I can feel it violently shake through her petite body. Wendy continues to shove her face in my hair, and I look up towards Natsu. He has a terrified look on his face. The one when you see a family member or loved one die. I look back at the girl who is holding me with such tight grip. I just pat her hair and shush her.

After a while, Wendy starts to fall asleep, and soon enough, exhaustion takes over her body and she is now knocked out in my arms. I pick the girl up, and shes surprisingly light, and lay her down on her bed.

"Now what do we do?" Natsu asks. I look out the window, the sky is starting to become lighter. Dawn is aproaching.

"I don't know." I answer. I sit there on the edge of Wendy's bed as the petite girl sleeps peacfully. She's only be gone several days, she proably hasn't gotten a moment like this until now from those several days.

My chest still aches for the poor girl, and I can't stop imagining what she went through.

I want to shut it all out, I want to stop right here and just forget about this mess, but I know I can't. I'm probably so much more involved then I can imagine. It's scaring me.

Natsu leaves the room to go to his own room, and finish sleeping. I stay with Wendy though, afraid that if she is alone she will hurt herself. I start to drift off on the edge of her bed though, and the next thing I know is I'm being woken up by someone shaking me.

I open my eyes groggily and look into two brown ones. Blue hair meets my blonde hair and I figure out its Wendy, who still looks scared. She lets go of me and crawls under her blankets again, so her head is the only thing showing. I sit up and pull my legs to my chest, and turn to face her.

"Hi Wendy." I say gentle. "How did you sleep?" She shrugs her shoulders. I'm guessing she meant she slept okay. I internally frown at Wendy, but keep a smile on for her. I want her to know that she is okay. "Are you hungry?" I ask her. She quickly nods her head. I stand up from her bed and hold out my hand for her to take. She hesitantly grabs in and crawls out from under the sheets. I notice she's still in her skimpy clothes from last night. It was barely anything for a girl her age. A black bralette and some high-waisted plastic-leather shorts. She wasn't wearing any shoes. "Would you like to change clothes?" I ask her. She nods, so I tell her to stay in her room and run to Natsu's room to find my clothes.

As I walk in, I'm happy to notice the bag I had left at Gray's sitting on Natsu's floor. But Natsu is missing from his bed. I check the time and it's about noon. I search through the large duffle bag laying on the floor and grab a large baby pink sweatshirt. I figured Wendy would want something more comfortable and big to wear, seeing the clothes she had on were not comfy at all.

I walk back to her and hand her the sweatshirt and wait outside for her to change. She knocks on the door signalling that I can enter the room. The sweatshirt is so big on her it almost looks likes a dress. It ends just above her knees, and she put on her own pair of sweatpants.

I geture my hand out to her so we could walk downstairs and get her something to eat. "When's the last time you ate?" I ask her. She holds up two fingers. "Two days?" I clarify. She nods. I feel my stomach drop a little and as we reach the kitchen, I instantly see Natsu standing at the counter top, making himself something to eat.

The morning sun that is coming through the windows glows on him. His skin is a golden tan. He looks like the type to surf a lot, or at least be out in the sun constantly. "Good Morning," He says, interupting my thoughts. "Where's Wendy?"

As soon as he asks that, I become a little puzzled. I turn around and notice she's gone. I walk back into the living room and notice she's hiding behind the couch. I quickly walk up to her and gesture my hand out to her. "Wendy, it's okay. He's your brother." I hoped that statement would be enough reassurance for her to come to the kitchen with me. "He won't hurt you. You know that." I say, becoming a little impatient. She hesitantly comes out from behind the couch and grips my hand. She has a firm grip, though its not rough, and it doesn't hurt. I walk her back to the kitchen.

I don't know why Wendy has attached herself to me so much after coming back home. She didn't even know my name until last night. But at least I know I can provide her a bit of comfort.

Entering the kitchen, I look at Natsu who is now sitting at the dinner table. "When did Gray drop off my stuff?" I ask.

"'Bout an hour ago." He answers non-chalantly. I'm still looking at him. But his gaze wanders to Wendy. Wendy ducks behind me as he looks at her, and I turn around to face her.

"Wendy, he's your brother." I say. "He was so worried about you. Can you talk to him?" I ask her. She nods her head. Wendy lets go of my hand, and she starts to slowly walk over to her brother. She looks down the whole time.

"Good morning, Wen." Natsu says. His eyes are fixiated on her face, and I can tell she's trying her best to mutter something.

"Hi." Wendy mumbles. This is the first time I'm hearing her voice, and it sounds so light, but so harsh. It's so hoarse and raspy, like she had been screaming for days. My eyes start to fill with tears, becoming a little too emotional.

Suddenly, Natsu latches his arms around her, and I can see Wendy start to panic, but we both freeze at the loud sob that erupts from Natsu's body. "I'm so sorry." His voice trembles. Wendy wraps her arms around him too, and sobs start to rips through her sore throat.

It almost feels like I shouldn't be witnessing this. It's a vulnerable moment for the both of them.

I simply look away, searching through the cabinets for something to fix for Wendy. I settle for small portions for right now. I don't want to feed her too much incase her stomach can't handle greater amounts of food, especially since she hasn't eaten for a while.

I fix her some peanut butter toast and some scrabled eggs, with some straberries on the side.

I had completely forgotten the scene going on behind me, and when I turn around, the both of them are sitting at the dinner table, and Wendy is eargerly waiting for her food. It's almost as her attitude completly changed, her eyes are glowing, and I can't tell if it's from the tears or the light. Natsu still seems shaken, but I know very well he is happy that his sister is home.

I set her plate of food down and she immedeatly digs in. I sit down right next to her. I glance up at Natsu, and he's already looking at me.

"Did you let Erza know she's home?" I ask Natsu. He shakes his head.

"I'm waiting to tell people until Wendy is ready to talk." He answers. He looks down at Wendy and she's got her face stuffed with eggs. "Has... Uhm, Has Sting texted you at all?" He asks.

I shake my head, "I havent't-" suddenly, Wendy stands up are starts choking on her food. "Oh my god." Without really knowing what to do, I run to get a glass of water, as Wendy swallows hard and stops coughing. "Wendy, are you okay?" I ask. I put a hand on her shoulder, but she violently jerks herself away from my touch.

"Wendy, talk to me." Natsu says. He stands infront of her, but he doesn't touch her. She lifts her hands and grabs a fist full of hair and starts shaking her head.

"I tried to say no!" She yells, while tears visibly roll down her red cheeks. "I tried so hard! I don't understand! Why me?!" She crys harder.

"Wendy, what happened?" I asked, worry and fear creeping up my spine.

"I said no! No! No!" She starts to repeat herself. I don't want to touch her, but I don't want her to hurt herself. She slumps herslef down on the floor, and starts sobbing for what seems like the millionth time.

"Wendy, do you want to go upstairs?" I ask. Without hesitating, the small girl runs up the stairs so fast I can't keep up. She shuts herself in her room, but the door has no lock.

"Now would be a good time to call Erza." Natsu says, looking at me. I laugh coldly.

"Yeah, yeah it would be."


End file.
